Asynchronous Teaching Tools & Practices

Vista | Wimba | Blogs | Wikis

Asynchronous teaching and learning involves learners not having to be present with the instructor or other students. Online course environments lend themselves to students communicating and collaborating with one another and with the instructor anytime and anywhere. Lessons may be delivered that don't require live attendance, and collaboration and engagement may happen over time.

Asynchronous Teaching with Blackboard Vista

Content: Faculty can post files, recorded lectures, video and audio media, and links to web-based resources such as websites or journal articles.

Communication: Using the Disucssions tool, students can post public messages or create blogs or private journals.

Assessment: By using the Vista Assignments tool or graded Discussions, faculty can assess student performance asynchronously.

Read about these tools at the Vista Knowledge Base.

Wimba Voice

The Wimba Voice tools can add the element of recorded voice to your teaching toolbox. Asynchronous Voice Tools include:

Podcaster: Students and instructors can use a built-in recorder and then save their voice files to their PC or Mac.

Voice Board: A threaded discussion tool where users leave voice messages for each other.

Voice Presentation: Author a narrated, online presentation. Faculty can record narration while guiding viewers through web site tours or slides.

Voice Recorder: Faculty can record and post messages into any web page or class management system - great for voice announcements.

Read more about each tool on the Wimba Voice page.

Wikis

A wiki is a simple web page which can be collaborative edited by a group of users. All changes are tracked so the page can evolve intelligently. Wikis are easy to use: watch the video "Wikis in Plain English" on YouTube.

Note: Wikis are not supported on campus, but free wikis are available for faculty outside the University.

Blogs

A blog is a "weB Log" - in its simplest form, a chronological list of posted writings (articles, journal entries, reviews, etc), often with the capability for the public to comment on a particular post. Many blogs have advanced features such as embedded video, podcasts, photo galleries and much more.

Note: Separate blog sites are not supported on campus, but free blogs are available for faculty outside the University. Vista also has a Blog function.